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32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\nThe start of training camp is a signature event on the NHL calendar and talking about how we think teams will fare is a staple of this time of year.<\/p>\n
That can mean only one thing: time for the first\u00a0Sportsnet.ca\u00a0Power Ranking of the 2026-27 campaign.<\/p>\n
This pre-season edition will serve as an appetizer to the weekly ranking we\u2019ll do once the puck drops on the new campaign. To be clear, topping this list is not a synonym for being the Stanley Cup favourite. Obviously, our top club \u2014 and two handfuls of teams underneath \u2014 have championship hopes, but this ranking reflects how we see the squads stacking up as we hit the ground running in less than two weeks.<\/p>\n
Preamble \u2014 like the pre-season itself \u2014 should be as short as possible, so without further delay, let\u2019s unveil our ranking of all 32 clubs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. Colorado Avalanche\u00a0The Avs \u2014 four years removed from the 2022 title \u2014 are a scary combination of talented and hungry. Colorado finished first overall last year, then ended the season on a sour note by losing the Western Conference Final in four games to the Vegas Golden Knights. Nathan MacKinnon just turned 31, Cale Makar (battling a minor lower-body injury) has been extended; Nazem Kadri is here for the full season to make the centre depth incredible; and the goalie tandem provides a solid foundation. All that\u2019s left to do is get 41-year-old Brent Burns his ring.<\/p>\n
32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n
Latest episode<\/a><\/p>\n 2. Dallas Stars\u00a0After three straight trips to the Western Conference Final, the Stars bowed out in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and didn\u2019t look particularly great doing so. A long summer reset probably wasn\u2019t the worst thing in the world for this club, which returns a deadly and deep lineup.\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. Washington Capitals\u00a0It\u2019s fair to have chemistry questions about the Caps, who are incorporating two new top-six wingers into the mix in Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch. Still, don\u2019t let a one-year blip of missing the playoffs throw you off; Washington finished second overall in 2024-25 and has a fantastic mix of veteran players supported by really, really good up-and-comers like defenceman Cole Hutson, banging winger Ryan Leonard and the hulking Protas brothers, Aliaksei and Ilya. Underpinning it all is the top-notch goaltending of Logan Thompson, who has finished fourth in Vezina voting in each of the past two seasons. If you\u2019re sleeping on the Capitals, time to wake up.\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Carolina Hurricanes\u00a0Truthfully, you could consider ranking the defending champs a little lower on this list when you factor in big-time fatigue and the fact Seth Jarvis is on the shelf for a chunk of the year. Does anybody really expect Carolina to come charging out of the chute? Still, the Canes are one of the safest bets to excel in the league and have gone from wondering what they have to do to get over the hump to knowing they\u2019ve got the stuff to hang a banner.<\/p>\n 5. Tampa Bay Lightning\u00a0Continuity is king here, and assuming John Carlson replacing Darren Raddysh as the right-shot D-man on the power play goes smoothy, the Bolts should be good to go.<\/p>\n 6. Minnesota Wild\u00a0The uncertainty surrounding Quinn Hughes\u2019 future is a bummer of a distraction. For now, though, Minny is ready to roll with two stud wingers in Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, a drool-worthy top pair of Hughes and Brock Faber and a strong Swedish duo of Filip Gustavsson (still recovering from hip surgery) and Jesper Wallstedt in goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n 7. Montreal Canadiens<\/a>\u00a0The Canadiens could not find the stud forward they\u2019ve been after for months during the off-season, but veteran Chris Kreider falling in their lap on the eve of camp could workout great. Even if improving on last season\u2019s 106-point showing is a big ask, there\u2019s no denying something special is coming together in Montreal.\u00a0<\/p>\n 8. Buffalo Sabres\u00a0The Sabres have been linked to suspended Winnipeg Jets<\/a> goalie Connor Hellebuyck more than any other club. Regardless of whether that megadeal comes together, Buffalo is the real deal and has young players coming to skate into voids left by winger Alex Tuch and defenceman Bowen Byram.<\/p>\n 9. Edmonton Oilers<\/a>\u00a0We\u2019ll see exactly what new-coach bump looks like under Mike Babcock. There\u2019s a clear sense, after a first-round exit, the Oilers are rested, re-focused and placing greater significance on the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n 10. Florida Panthers\u00a0If we were doing Cup odds here, the Panthers would be much higher. They\u2019ve still got a roster that screams playoff success. It might take a minute for the new pieces to fall into place, though, and so much of this season for the Cats will come down to how Jacob Markstrom fares as Sergei Bobrovsky\u2019s replacement.\u00a0<\/p>\n 11. Vegas Golden Knights\u00a0It\u2019s hard to imagine the defending Western Conference champs coming out of the gate with the pedal pinned. It\u2019s a long game for the Knights, who need their veteran-heavy lineup to be at its peak come playoff time.\u00a0<\/p>\n 12. Utah Mammoth\u00a0They\u2019re good now and have the prospect powder to pull off another huge deal if something \u2014 would the Jets trade Hellebuyck within the Central? \u2014 comes up. The arrow is pointing way up in Utah.\u00a0<\/p>\n 13. Anaheim Ducks\u00a0All the drama around Leo Carlsson\u2019s offer sheet and the drawn-out negotiations with sniper Cutter Gauthier shouldn\u2019t distract from the fact this is one of the best up-and-coming squads in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n 14. Ottawa Senators<\/a>\u00a0We\u2019re not going to call losing Brady Tkachuk addition by subtraction because that\u2019s overlooking what a unique player profile the former Sens captain had. Still, it feels like Drake Batherson putting pen to paper on a new extension officially helped kick off a new chapter for Ottawa, which is icing a club that\u2019s strong down the middle and features one of the best young blueliners in the world in Jake Sanderson.\u00a0<\/p>\n 15. Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>\u00a0There\u2019s always a lot of attention on the Maple Leafs to start a new season, but all the new faces bring an added layer of intrigue as Toronto tries to snap right back into Cup contention. There\u2019s lots of top-six talent, a crew of new bottom-sixers who embrace their role and a tandem to believe in with Sergei Bobrovsky backed up by Anthony Stolarz. The Leafs\u2019 fate will come down to how the blueline fares.\u00a0<\/p>\n 16. Boston Bruins\u00a0Boston is the seventh Atlantic team we\u2019ve listed and we\u2019re only halfway through the league. Man, it\u2019s going to be a real slog in that group. For the B\u2019s, they can bet on known quantities in goal (Jeremy Swayman), on defence (Charlie McAvoy) and up front (David Pastrnak). If James Hagens can be an offensive threat as a rookie and newcomer JJ Peterka finds his stroke playing on the top line, Boston will be in business.\u00a0<\/p>\n 17. San Jose Sharks\u00a0Most squads would kill for this team\u2019s five-year future and, in a mid West, this could be the first of many consecutive seasons in the playoffs for Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks.\u00a0<\/p>\n 18. Philadelphia Flyers\u00a0Be honest, did you remember the Flyers made it to the second round last spring? Getting back into the playoffs will be a big ask, but Porter Martone will be a favourite to win rookie of the year and already feels like he\u2019s Mr. Flyer.\u00a0<\/p>\n 19. New Jersey Devils\u00a0It\u2019s tempting to pick the Devils as a bounce-back candidate and there\u2019s certainly skill to bet on. That said, the goaltending is a huge question mark, Jack Hughes always seems to miss 20 games and \u2014 as far as we know \u2014 the rumours of acquiring a third Hughes brother that dogged the dressing room last season have not gone away.\u00a0<\/p>\n 20. Winnipeg Jets\u00a0No team has more pressing uncertainty around it thanks to the drama involving Connor Hellebuyck. Just remember, the Jets played well into November without key players Adam Lowry, Dylan Samberg and Cole Perfetti last year. Winnipeg won the Presidents\u2019 Trophy 16 months ago and the Jets will surely play with a collective chip this year. As long as Stuart Skinner and any goalie who comes back in the eventual Hellebuyck deal hold the fort, it\u2019s foolish to write off the Jets.\u00a0<\/p>\n 21. Los Angeles Kings\u00a0Year 1 without Anze Kopitar should be interesting. Actually, with the Kings, everything feels kind of boring at this point. We\u2019ll see if new bench boss Peter Laviolette can squeeze enough offence out of a group that gets Artemi Panarin for a full season.\u00a0<\/p>\n 22. St. Louis Blues\u00a0The Blues have underperformed for a couple years, but there\u2019s sneaky potential on this club. They not only kept Robert Thomas, they made him captain. If newcomer Mason McTavish can be a solid 2C and Joel Hofer further solidifies his grip on the starting role, there\u2019s a clear roadmap back to the playoffs.<\/p>\n 23. Pittsburgh Penguins\u00a0Look, last year was a delightful surprise in Steeltown and the Pens could very well back it up with another post-season appearance. Finishing four points out of the final wild card would be a bummer, though, because as good as GM Kyle Dubas\u2019 retool is going, at some point Pittsburgh needs to draft back up in the range where it got Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin many moons ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n 24. New York Islanders\u00a0Even though he technically took over at the end of last season, we\u2019re still making Pete DeBoer eligible for new-coach bump consideration. Ilya Sorokin provides a solid foundation and Matthew Schaefer lets you dream about the future, but \u2014 as always \u2014 you just wonder if the Isles can score enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n 25. Detroit Red Wings\u00a0Until there\u2019s resolution on Dylan Larkin\u2019s future, it\u2019s hard to know what to make of the Wings. Detroit is thin down the middle with Larkin and, obviously, it gets way worse \u2014 depending on the return \u2014 if he leaves. Hard as it is for playoff-starved Wings fans to hear, a small reset might be in order.\u00a0<\/p>\n 26. Columbus Blue Jackets\u00a0Columbus\u2019 roster warrants being much higher in this ranking. The problem, though, is there are major questions surrounding the futures of Kirill Marchenko and Zach Werenski, to say nothing of unsigned centre Adam Fantailli. There are just too many big-time questions swirling around Ohio to have faith in the Jackets right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n 27. Nashville Predators\u00a0The Preds could look very different by season\u2019s end if this is the year that the likes of Ryan O\u2019Reilly (a pending UFA) and Steven Stamkos (two years left on his deal) move. The likes of Matthew Wood, Brady Martin and newcomer Mavrik Bourque need to put their stamp on this team in transition.\u00a0<\/p>\n 28. New York Rangers\u00a0Don\u2019t get too swept up in Rangers retool talk; the Blueshirts still have capable forwards, an all-world defenceman in Adam Fox and a goalie, in Igor Shesterkin, who keeps your floor relatively high.\u00a0<\/p>\n 29. Chicago Blackhawks\u00a0We\u2019ve arrived at the final club in our ranking where, if you really do some mental gymnastics, you could talk yourself into it making the big dance. Maybe. Here\u2019s hoping Connor Bedard is back as soon as possible, giving Hawks fans some legit hope.\u00a0<\/p>\n 30. Seattle Kraken\u00a0Chase Reid was an exciting pick last June at seventh overall, but genuine thrills still seem so far away in Seattle.<\/p>\n